Rizwana Hasan vs. ship breaking

August 7, 2012

Rizwana Hasan, recipient the Goldman Environmental Prize, 2009.

The desperation of not being able to provide for oneâ€™s family will compel an individual to cross borders, to suffer indignities, to break moral codes, and to put oneâ€™s own life at risk. For unskilled, illiterate young men, concerns about personal safety and health issues are a luxury. The cries of Mother Nature may be drowned by the sobs of a hungry child, at least in her fatherâ€™s eyes.

In the developed nations, we have the luxury to care about the environment without asking many needy people to sacrifice so much. We have less of an excuse to ignore environmental issues. Yet here in New Jersey, we have a problem: We have more toxic waste sites than any other state in the Union. In the spirit of thinking globally and acting locally, I was wondering how I could tap into the inspirational figures I have encountered in my daily perusing of the news from Bangladesh and apply those lessons to my own life here.

Near our home lies an area with a high concentration of children who have contracted brain and other lethal cancers. Two of the underground wells that supply the drinking needs of the 80,000 residents in our area are contaminated by Union Carbide, a company that dumped the contents of 4,500 metal drums on a property it leased from a local farmer directly into the ground close to where the main drinking water supply is drawn.

Union Carbide has been horrific and irresponsible in disposing off its toxic chemicals. No question. And yet, it cannot compare to the amount of toxins involved in ship breaking, the process by which a large ship is recycled. Many of the chemicals present in these ships can lead to a host of problems. The ship breaking industry can kill workers and poison the land for generations to come.

Photo: Reuters

By its nature, ship breaking relies on beaching vessels along major waterways, areas of great population concentration, and sources of ecodiversity, agriculture, and fishing. If any of the ship breaking yards lie within flood zones, no amount of mitigation can prevent the unforseen consequences of the rising waters.

The ship breaking yards near Chittagong lie in an 8.8 km swath of coastal plain below the city and within the current of the Bay of Bengal. As I view the satellite picture, a question springs to mind:

â€śWouldnâ€™t coastal flooding carry those dangerous toxins into the entire low-lying area between Coxâ€™s Bazar to the South and Sandwhip Ship Ghat Road in the North, and West of R170 and the Dhaka Chittagong highway? Could that region be contaminated with toxins from the shipyards if floodwaters come from a rise in the waters via the Bay of Bengal?â€ť

Think about it. By 2030, on-site accumulations of asbestos in Bangladesh will reach 37,525 tons. In addition, 169.5 tons of heavy metals 1,978,000 cubic meters of organic wastes, and 107,000 square meters of sewage could brew a soup so lethal that generations would suffer long-term ill effects.

Hereâ€™s the problem: People rely on the ship breaking industry for sustenance, raw materials, and profit. More than 50 percent of Bangladeshâ€™s steel needs are supplied by ship breaking, according to a World Bank Report (#58275-SAS). According to the same report, direct and ancillary employment from Bangladeshâ€™s ship breaking industry employs for 200,000 workers.

So where do you all stand on this issue? Can Bangladesh afford to lose a $1.5 billion industry? Is the payoff worth the cost?

Enters attorney Rizwana Hasan who will receive the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award on August 31. She has dedicated her life to the plight of workers in this dangerous profession and has advocated successfully for environmental causes. Through acts of litigation and advocacy, she has fought to put an end to the ship-breaking industry in Bangladesh. Rizwana sees the industry as exploitation of people desperate for jobs, even at negligible wages and in dangerous conditions. Worldwatch Institute quotes Rizwana: â€śEven if it is 20,000 [employees], what are happening to these people? They are inhaling asbestos. Do you want people to choose between employment and unemployment, or do you say that this is a choice between unemployment and exploitation?â€ť

I find the work versus environment ambiguity so compelling that I donâ€™t think I could â€śdo the right thingâ€ť and demand the shut-down of the industry. The workers may be choosing between unemployment and exploitation, but show me a single dedicated son of a sick parent, or a proud new father, who would not be willing to be exploited in the hopes of making a better life for his family.

My point in writing this article is not so much to present the sides in this issue as to applaud an individual who has the courage to take a clear stance on a controversial issue. I ask myself, what have I done here, in my own country, my town, even in my household to match this womanâ€™s selfless dedication to her cause? Rizwana is thinking of the impact of the industry on her country on future generations. She is challenging her people to make difficult choices. I donâ€™t know if I could do that. I donâ€™t know if I could dismiss the concerns of desperate people, no matter how unhealthy their working conditions.

Can new positions be found for 20,000 workers? The answer, long-term, is yes. Out there in the world, someone is willing to pay for someone to do something less toxic, something better, long-term for the future of Bangladesh. Rizwana has identified the problem and taken a stand. The next step, even before cleaning up the mess, is to discover a better path, perhaps through education, perhaps through hiring those same workers for remediation.

Hereâ€™s my American solution: I read that ship breakers usually borrow money from a local bank to purchase the ship to be grounded. The interest rates are high. In six months, when the ship is broken down, the investor repays the loan. If the government could provide lower-interest loans in exchange for better environmental and labour conditions, and that interest rate could mitigate the cost of accountability, it may convince some ship-breakers to self-regulate. As time went by, these conditions could become more stringent.

So what can I do here at home to make a difference? How can I imitate the brave example of your Rizwana Hasan? Well, I could start in my home. I could examine the toxins that are produced right here under this roof. Then I could go to my local forest and redouble my efforts to remove the articles people have dumped. Itâ€™s not huge, but it beats doing nothing. I can do my tiny best to make my toxic state just a little bit less toxic. On August 31, 2012, as Rizwana Hasan receives her award, I will honour her, not with a gold medal, but with ten trees planted and ten bags of trash pulled from the woods.

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Frank Domenico Cipriani writes a weekly column in the Riverside Signal called â€śYou Think What You Think And Iâ€™ll Think What I Know.â€ť He is also the founder and CEO of The Gatherer Institute â€” a not-for-profit public charity dedicated to promoting respect for the environment and empowering individuals to become self-taught and self-sufficient. His most recent book, â€śLearning Little Hawkâ€™s Way of Storytellingâ€ť, teaches the native art of oral tradition storytelling.

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30 Responses to “ Rizwana Hasan vs. ship breaking ”

G Sarwar on August 12, 2012 at 8:14 am

This is by far one of the most intuitive, well thought-out articles I have ever read. I myself take the utilitarian approach and believe economic output should come second to none (especially in a country where poverty is widespread) and the idea about offering to buy the ship with little interest rate to add incentive to going green is indeed a great idea.

However, I am deeply sorry to disagree with your last suggestion that the government should take this into hand. Matter of fact, it was the Bangladeshi govt which banned ship breaking leaving hundreds of thousands unemployed. Not to mention, Bangladesh is very well known for its inefficient and ineffective government, and I am very afraid they will find a way to politicize (bribery, political connection, cronyism) the situation with such a big task.

One solution is to adapt some policies such as the Clean Development Mechanism (Carbon Credit) of the Kyoto protocol. Another viable option is to approach international firms, development banks, charity organisation, NGOs, etc. especially in the West and other developed countries to offer soft loans.

Once again, thank you for this eye opening article and I hope being a simpleton, would make an impact.

Thank you for your kind words. As a libertarian myself, I tend to mistrust a government-run program. Perhaps the NGO route is best. I like your option of Clean Development Mechanism. I think that private loans with the promise of some profit is the best way to go, with the ultimate goal being to make the industry self-sustaining. As I study the ideas put forth by my readers in this section, I notice that BRAC, for instance is 85% self-sustaining. If some visionary, perhaps a branch of BELA itself could supply the competitive funding, it would be able to dictate the terms of the shipbreaking.

Let’s voice our supports for the cause Rizwana is fighting for. And at this moment of her global recognition, let’s take a minute to remember and reveal our gratitude to Late Mohiuddin Faruque, the founder of BELA.

I read about him. His arguments led to a more activist court, and paved the way for Rizwana Hasan’s success. Let’s not forget as well, to applaud the courts for doing the right thing, both in the case of Rizwana Hasan and Mohiuddin Faruque. The liberal interpretation of the courts as regards Public Interest shows that in both cases, the courts were willing to act to protect the future of the nation.

Thanks for a critical and vibrant article, thinking differently strategically. I am not sure about the scientific feasibility the study held or not! Her works give us further opportunity to work in environment and also think strategically in this and other such important issues!

You certainly are not short on national heroes. I hope that the outpouring of support for her is translated into some political clout. Unfortunately, sometimes when people stick their necks out in a worthy cause, many ruthless people are happy to chop at those necks.

Thank you very much Mr. Frank for writing this article. In your writing you have mentioned that you did not write this article to applaud an individual. But why not? You should applaud Rizwana. She did a great job for the people of Bangladesh. Yes you have seen her as a future leader in our poor country. We are expecting more and more future leaders for our country. She is an inspiration to us all like Sir. Fazle Hasan Abed, Dr.Yunus, Dr.Zafarullh and so many others, Rizwana Hasan is also an inspiration us all.

We are indeed proud of Rizwana and BELA for working relentlessly to save our environment. But do you really think this industry will come to a halt? First and foremost the workers need to be rehabilitated? But will that be enough? Don’t we also need to dismantle these ships? What’s a more environment friendly substitute to that?

The ship breaking industry is one of the most hazardous ones in the world. And the government seems quite unaware or should I say indifferent about its effect on the environment as well as the workers. Thank god for activists like Rizwana and others.

I personally know Rizwana long back. She is one of the most eloquent and beautiful women I have ever met. When I was working as a deputy secretary in the ministry of WORKS in the year 2001, I had the opportunity to talk to her and I was impressed. The ship breaking industry is run by people of ruthless nature and the whole area is under serious envioronmental threat. When the ship breaking industry was not there, I visited that place many times, infact I spent hours laid on the sea-beach, having fresh laitta fish cooked. Since the ship breaking industry set in, it is very difficult to visit the place. The whole place is shabby and ill-managed. I wish I should not have gone.

She seems to have a positive and glowing spirit, from what I’ve read about her. There’s a future leader for you!

Your personal account is very sad. The practice of running ships aground at high tide does not take the environment into account at all. I keep saying Bangladesh needs a canal system. Canals could bring ships to holding pens where they could be isolated from the flow of cleaner water and disassembled. Of course, I don’t know enough to understand the drawbacks of such a system, but it seems to me that with a 1.5 billion industry, some better system could be implemented.